


under the canopy

by PutItBriefly



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, 半妖の夜叉姫 | Hanyou no Yashahime | Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (Anime)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27056677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PutItBriefly/pseuds/PutItBriefly
Summary: When Moroha is eighteen months old and making drastic life choices as a teenager without a safety net sounds appalling and maternal worry is just a way of life, Kagome suggests—“Don’t you think it’s time we introduce Moroha to your brother?”Inuyasha pulls a face. “It’s not like he’d care.”Kagome doesn’t argue. She knows Sesshoumaru won’t. “Rin will.”Her husband is perplexed. “Ya coulda just said that, you know.”
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha, Rin/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 506





	under the canopy

Time had better enjoy its havok.

Age has made her ...not nostalgic, and not melancholy, but something skirting both. Lately, Kagome has been looking back on her youth with restless disapproval. She had been _fifteen_! As an adult, the very notion it had been up to a ragtag group of teenagers to save the world rankles. Miroku had been their most mature member at an illustrious eighteen. There had been no alternative, it had to be them, she would never deny that. She doesn’t regret it. There’s no soft voice in her heart telling her maybe she shouldn’t have kept returning to that well.

But she’s a mother now, and when she looks at Moroha—that pudgy solidity of a toddler, that frightening fragility of a child—Kagome cannot fathom being in her own mother’s shoes. Stepping aside, accepting the necessity of her child leaping into another time to fight monsters beyond her imagination.

Kagome _would_ find the strength, of course, were she ever in a situation where the fate of the world rested on Moroha’s shoulders and Moroha’s shoulders alone. But she would use it to fight so that Moroha doesn’t have to _first_.

Still, from twenty-six the fact that her entire life path was set inexorably into motion by resolutions she made at fifteen is alarming. Who knows anything at fifteen? Who deserves that burden at _fifteen_?

(She cannot picture a single version of herself who went to university, married a salaryman, had a career. What would she have studied, what would she have done, who would she have been? It’s frankly too _bizarre_. These are not things that belong in the life of Kagome Higurashi.)

At twenty-six, she looks back on her life not with regret—because this is who she is, the only correct result from the only correct path—but with a rather whimsical frustration that these pivotal decisions come so early. She hadn’t known who she was when the Shikon Jewel became her responsibility. She hadn’t known what she was capable of.

Kagome remembers how, when Rin turned sixteen, everyone stepped aside and watched her frolic into the woods to become the bride of Sesshoumaru. Kagome hadn’t questioned it at the time. For the eight years Rin lived in the village, her single ambition had been returning to Sesshoumaru. Rin spent half of her life building an idea of what that would mean and left before she had the maturity or the clarity to know what she could do, who she might be, if her fantasy did not translate well to reality.

No one else’s experience with Sesshoumaru could be reconciled with Rin’s fervent instance that he was really kind and gentle. Still, five years’ friendship was enough for Kagome to understand what Rin’s life had been like before she met him. Rin spoke loudly and often, but rarely about herself. Her life story came out of her in fits and starts, as if she couldn’t really make sense of it when she tried to put it into words. It was all violence, murder, and beatings until Sesshoumaru. _He_ never raised a hand to her. _He_ never punished or shamed her. _He_ did not impose arbitrary rules. She became a feral child living freely in the woods. She rode a two-headed dragon and was protected by demons. It was precisely the sort of fantasy life any abused, lonely child might dream up. For Rin, it had been true. Was it any wonder she clung to it even after normal life had resumed?

Rin had not been unhappy with Kaede. Despite all of her professed antipathy towards other humans, Rin seemed to genuinely like everyone she met. She went about her chores cheerfully. She studied and she played. But it had never, ever been more than a way to occupy the time until Sesshoumaru took her away.

Kagome wondered, worried.

Eight years of embellished memories, of cherished expectations lovingly perfected must give way to adult reality eventually.

When Rin lived in the village, Sesshoumaru visited once per season. He came only for Rin, brought her gifts and trinkets, nominally accepted Kaede as a greater authority on humans than himself, and ignored the rest of them. He and Inuyasha did not speak a word to one another if they could possibly avoid it. And one spring visit, Kaede relented. It could no longer be denied Rin was of marriageable age. The time had come to give her suitor an answer.

She accepted him.

They all knew she would.

And she left.

And though Kagome truly believes Rin came to love Kaede, and Inuyasha, and Shippou, and Sango, and Miroku, and herself, and every baby she helped birth, every injured peasant she helped doctor, she never returned.

When Moroha is eighteen months old and making drastic life choices as a teenager without a safety net sounds appalling and maternal worry is just a way of life, Kagome suggests—

“Don’t you think it’s time we introduce Moroha to your brother?”

Inuyasha pulls a face. “It’s not like he’d care.”

Kagome doesn’t argue. She knows Sesshoumaru won’t. “Rin will.”

Her husband is perplexed. “Ya coulda just said _that_ , you know.”

Quietly, Kagome admits, “I worry about her.” Worry that her idealized image of Sesshoumaru must fall apart. Worry that she’ll long for occupation or the chance to use the skills she studied in the village. Worry she missed her chance at a family of her own because even if she _did_ decide to leave Sesshoumaru, any human man would consider her tainted by the association. 

_Finding_ them is an undertaking in and of itself. Sesshoumaru, it turns out, does not actually live anywhere. He simply wanders. He has no destination. He has no goal (that they know of, though Inuyasha and Myoga confer and agree that if Sesshoumaru _was_ after something, they would learn of it sooner or later.) After a network of bug demons are able to narrow down a region where he has been sighted, Inuyasha himself heads out to pinpoint a more precise location.

And once they are certain Sesshoumaru knows he is being sought and by whom, and that Inuyasha could draw him out easily, they pack a tote of supplies and take Moroha to meet her uncle.

They find Rin first.

It’s not surprising. She is who they really wanted, after all. Inuyasha complains she stinks of Sesshoumaru, but according to him, she always had. It was the clothes he had given her—no matter how many times they were washed, Sesshoumaru’s scent lingered. Rin couldn’t smell it, even when they were brand new, and she had smiled every time Inuyasha groused about it.

She reclines in a clearing, her back against A-Un. Her hair is gathered by a ribbon at the end, though a good bit of it has managed to escape. That her clothes are fine is apparent in the vibrancy of the colors, but the cut is what Kagome would expect to see on a hard-working peasant. Straw sandals are discarded beside her and Rin stretches her toes in the grass. When they get closer, Kagome can hear her softly singing a meandering song Rin is clearly making up as she goes:

 _“I chase untamed eternity,  
_ _You embrace a quiet moment.”_

Rin’s eyes are on the tree line and though they are not who she expected to see, she scrambles to her feet, slips on her sandals and waves frantically. “Inuyasha! Kagome!” Her smile is as wide and bright as they remember.

“Rin!”

Inuyasha lands. Kagome slides off his back, knees aching with relief. 

_“A baby!”_ Inuyasha and Kagome become the least interesting people in the clearing. Rin is by their side in a flash, unleashing a barrage of questions and comments. “She’s adorable! How old is she? I’m so happy for you! Can I play with her?”

Kagome sets Moroha down on the grass. Rin kneels before her. “Thank you. A year and a half. Thank you. Of course. We thought it was high time we introduced her to her uncle. Is Sesshoumaru…?”

Rin produces a temari ball from somewhere and rolls it to Moroha. It makes a low sound as it cuts through the grass, like it has dry rice or small rocks inside. Cheerfully, Rin assures them, “Lord Sesshoumaru will return soon!” She claps when Moroha kicks the ball and it flies over her shoulder. “What’s her name?”

“Moroha.”

Rin scampers off to retrieve the ball, calling, “It suits her!” as she does so.

When Kagome and Inuyasha told Miroku and Sango what they were calling their daughter, the monk had asked if the name was a reference to her dual nature as demon and human, the duality of a demon and a priestess or the union of their two worlds. _‘Yes,’_ Kagome had answered.

Ball in hand, Rin grins. “Lord Sesshoumaru!”

Kagome turns around. She hadn’t heard him. He can fly. He can transform into a ball of light. One moment, he was not in the clearing, and then he was.

Rin jogs towards him, adoration writ as plain on her being as ever. “Were they any trouble?”

From the voluminous mass of fur he wears looped over his shoulder, Sesshoumaru produces

a child.

An ethereal child with silver hair streaked red, skin too pale to be human.

He extends his left arm, the toddler’s head in his palm, her body draped over his forearm, to Rin. Rolling her eyes, she drops the ball and takes the child.

To Kagome, Rin explains, “Lord Sesshoumaru thinks it reflects poorly on him if he admits Towa can be a handful.” She falls onto her knees in the grass, balancing Towa on her lap. “We’ve been trying to teach them to hold onto Lord Sesshoumaru’s fur.” 

Inuyasha twitches. “Them?”

“Your uncle and aunt brought your cousin to play with you,” Rin tells Towa. “Isn’t that exciting?” She pulls the ribbon out of Towa’s hair, finger combs the unruly curls and makes an attempt to tie it up again. The result is no better than the windswept ponytail she emerged with. “Now where did your ball go…?”

Kagome tries to watch both Towa toddling towards Moroha and the tiny head still reclining against Sesshoumaru’s shoulder, her body hidden in the depths of his fur. Her hair is dark and smooth, also streaked red. Her skin is rosy, more _human_ , and there is no denying what they are.

“You…” Inuyasha struggles for words. “You have half-demon children?”

Rin has remembered where she dropped the ball and gets up to fetch it. “It was inevitable, wasn’t it?”

Sesshoumaru does not deign to reply. He sits silently with his back against a tree, his attention seemingly focused on the child trying to determine if she is allowed to let go of his fur or not.

Rin taps the ball with the inside of her foot, sending it rolling towards Moroha and Towa. They both pounce on it.

“All the _shit_ you gave me,” Inuyasha erupts, “and here you are, acting like you aren’t the biggest _fucking_ _hypocrite_?”

“You will not speak to me in such a manner.” Sesshoumaru’s tone is cold as ice.

“So!” Kagome claps, trying to defuse the tension. The children looked about the same size. “Twins?”

Rin nods eagerly. “Towa and Setsuna!”

Grasping at conversational threads, Kagome cries, “That must be interesting! Isn’t that interesting, Inuyasha? How old are they?”

“Two. Towa is older.” 

“You just got right down to business, huh?” Inuyasha continues. “How’s that work, anyway? Do you just wake up one morning and decide half-breeds aren’t abominations after all or did you ease into it?”

Rin frowns. “Inuyasha, I remember how hard it was for you and Kagome to have a baby and we’re very happy that you did, but you can’t expect everyone to have trouble.”

The _trouble_ Rin refers to is the belief among the villagers that Kagome and Inuyasha couldn’t have children that arose after she didn’t fall pregnant soon after their marriage. Only Sango had actually believed Kagome when she explained how, in her time, scientists understood how female fertility was cyclical, and that it was possible to plan babies even when doing as husbands and wives do. Professions that she was waiting until she felt ready to be a mom were met largely with kind pity.

And though Kagome remembers using words like _bride_ and _courting_ to describe what was occurring between Sesshoumaru and Rin, she realizes belatedly that she had pictured what they had only as companionship. 

Kagome is stunned, embarrassed by the lapse. Sesshoumaru had never struck her as, well, _human_ enough to be interested in an actual marriage. Inuyasha...it’s hard to guess what he’s feeling. _Betrayal_ is the best she can do, but can he be betrayed by someone he never especially trusted to begin with?

Sesshoumaru says, “You are upsetting Setsuna,” a phrase which he evidently finds loaded with meaning.

Inuyasha was never one for nuance. He laughs, a bit manically. “Setsu doesn’t know the meaning of upset, buddy!”

Rin hurries to Sesshoumaru’s side and lifts her daughter up, tucking Setsuna’s head beneath her chin. Rin smooths her hair, sways and coos.

Inuyasha is contrite. “Hey,” he says softly, beginning to reach out but not, “It ain’t _her_ I’m mad at.”

“We know,” Rin says. “She just...Setsuna has a gentle heart. She can be a bit sensitive, that’s all.”

Before, Kagome had thought Setsuna’s hair was streaked with red, like Towa’s, but watching Rin comfort her, it’s uniformly dark.

“Rin,” Sesshoumaru interjects abruptly, “are you wishing to continue this visit?”

“If Inuyasha and Kagome still want to, yes, of course.”

“Very well. I shall take Setsuna, and they shall stay with you and Towa.”

Rin blinks. “Really, it’s that—?” She lifts Setsuna higher to look her in the eye. “Oh! Yes! You’re right!”

They pass Setsuna between them. Kagome can see the red from her hair has bled into her eyes. The faint shadow of a crescent moon is on her forehead.

Sesshoumaru eyes Inuyasha. “Needless to say, should any harm come to Towa or Rin while I am gone, your lives are forfeit.”

“I’m not the one who goes around trying to kill half-demons, now am I?” is Inuyasha’s retort.

This barb is met with a disdainful grunt before Sesshoumaru leaps out of the clearing.

“Setsuna is really very cute when she transforms into a dog,” Rin chirps after he has gone. “She hasn’t grown into her paws yet. Lord Sesshoumaru likes her to have lots of room to run around, so that she can work off her nervous energy.”

As much as Kagome loves Inuyasha’s ears, she’s not sure she would be this chipper if Moroha transformed into a demon dog when she was upset. She knows Inuyasha was relieved when Moroha came out looking so human. _‘Less of a hassle that way,’_ he’d said.

“Does Towa transform?” Kagome asks.

“She hasn’t.” Rin shrugs. “We don’t know if that means she _can’t_ or if she just hasn’t felt like she needed to yet.” 

The uncertainty of a half-demon child must be amplified with twins. It would be dangerous to assume their demon abilities are identical, but it’s probably an easy trap to fall into. Moroha can’t yet explain what she feels or how strong her senses are. With her outward appearance already so human, her parents can’t tell if she’s had a period of vulnerability yet. They likely won’t know until Moroha comes to them, complaining of feeling strange and weak.

Moroha and Towa are playing beside one another rather than with one another, as very small children do. Inuyasha crouches with them. He points at Towa. “So she’s the one who gives Sesshoumaru hell, huh? Well, no offense to Setsu, but Towa’s my favorite niece.”

“She doesn’t listen,” Rin says.

Kagome laughs. “Two year olds don’t!”

“Towa does as Towa wishes, and _not_ as her father wishes.” With affection, Rin strokes Towa’s hair. “I keep telling him he’ll like that about her when she’s older.”

“Any parent would be frustrated.” That was the first thing Rin had told them about Towa, wasn’t it? Sesshoumaru thinks it reflects poorly on him that he finds her difficult. Setsuna is not an _easier_ child certainly, but no doubt one he feels more equipped to deal with. She’s quiet, and then she lashes out. Sesshoumaru can understand that.

Rin nods. She frowns. “The world doesn’t like half-demons. Lord Sesshoumaru can protect them, of course, but…” She sighs. “When I lived with Kaede, I loved her and I appreciate everything she did for me, but I hated it, too. Go here, go there, do this at this time and that at that time. Study this. Memorize that. I wanted no schedules, no walls, no limits. Do what makes you happy when it makes you happy and that’s it. But now I get it.”

“It’s being a parent,” Kagome says.

“Right. That’s being a parent. Lord Sesshoumaru can protect them. But if Towa isn’t listening—if she’s _there_ when he told her to be _here_ —and something bad happens… That’s scary. He doesn’t… Lord Sesshoumaru is not used to being scared.”

“Yeah.” Kagome thinks of her own mother, as she so often does now, standing aside and letting her go. She looks to Moroha, and thinks of the fear. “But I bet he wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Not for anything. Me, neither.”

Sesshoumaru is a wanderer. A solitary creature without attachments. (Well, a small number of attachments.) Kagome is accustomed to thinking of marriages and families as something that builds society, and therefore something constrained to exist within society. Walls don’t make a home, so why would they make a family? The only version of yourself you can imagine being can happen beneath the canopy, too.

They sit with Rin late into the evening, roasting vegetables on an open fire. When Sesshoumaru returns with Setsuna, the moon is in the sky and not her forehead. All the red is in her hair where it belongs. And she’s gentle, like Rin told them she would be.

They make camp, and part ways in the morning. 

After a few hours’ travel, Kagome asks, “Are you still mad at him?”

Inuyasha is quiet before answering. “Yeah.”

Kagome won’t try to talk Inuyasha out of his feelings, but stewing is rarely productive. “Don’t you think it’s a good thing, though, that Sesshoumaru knows he was wrong? He’s grown a lot.”

“Keh. He changes his mind and we call it growth, hooray, but I’m the one who had to live with how he treated me, how the world treated me. He gets to change, bully for him, but me, and Moroha, and those twins—there’s no _growth_ for us. We just are what we are.”

“I know. It makes me glad.”

“How’s that?”

“You were alone for so long! Not a human and not a demon, you didn’t belong anywhere. But for Moroha and Towa and Setsuna— _they_ belong in _this_ family. They’ll never question it, they’ll never feel alone. They have so many people just like them.”

Inuyasha considers this. “Yeah,” he says finally, “I guess that’s pretty good.” 

**Author's Note:**

> You may be wondering where Jaken is. The real answer is having him contribute to the conversation without derailing it was more trouble than it's worth. The fun answer is he realized he left the stove on at home once Sesshoumaru and Rin started trying to raise two babies in the woods.


End file.
